Untitled: A Junior Design Student Conceptual Project by Jeremy Cliff (2015)

My picture is of the closed nature center at Redwood Grove Nature Preserve in Los Altos. It has been closed since 2008, and is now boarded up and derelict. It was once quite a nice place to hangout, but now it's like the building is haunted. There is a large sign saying ''No Trespassing'', further emphasizes the desertion of the building. It was a cloudy day so this was unintentional, but the lighting is very dull and cold, creating an unpleasant atmosphere. I thought it worked really well, and I adjusted it a bit. The picture is at an angle to make it more interesting, and the sign is behind the tree branch to further emphasize isolation and confinement.

I have had experience with Photoshop and other photo editing programs before so I was pretty comfortable with it. However, I didn't realize the power of selection. Other programs I've used don't have options like the pen tool or paintbrush select, so it was much easier to make a precise selection. I specifically edited the tone of the image. The tone was already grey and dismal, but I adjusted that even more using the saturation adjustments. I also applied a brush filter to the tree leaves. Originally, I was going to filter the building but realized it would be too difficult to do so without getting rid of important details like the sign. The filter made it appear as if the tree was losing its detail, as if it was going down a dark hole of skepticism. When you make excuses, you basically barricade yourself. You shut yourself in when you're not honest and refuse to take responsibility. I found the boarded up windows and trespassing sign to perfectly emphasize this. You don't let people see the reality when you are constantly making up excuses, like closing a door to your real self. The tree branch in front of the sign further emphasizes this, indicating how excuses build up on another.